eGlobal Education: A Day in Ashgabat

Colorful embroidery thread at bazaar

Weaver selling her carpets

We started our morning early (4:15 a.m. for me) with a walk to beat the heat of the day (105 F today), down to the Presidential and Parliamentary offices. Being naïve about Turkmen politics, we thought we'd walk along the huge square that is used for big parades and public events. But, no, it is not public. We were kicked out of the area and forbidden to take pictures of any buildings. Imagine if you couldn't photograph the White House or national Capitol.

I will put my photos of the day at the bottom of this blog since blogger doesn't seem to like working with Internet Explorer, but hope they'll be of interest nonetheless.

Ashgabat has a huge bazaar that is about 15 miles out of town, so not very convenient, but very popular anyway. The traffic was backed up for miles with old Russian and new Japanese cars fighting for position in the chaotic streets. The bazaar must have thousands of shops, many inside the multitude of buildings and some in separate spaces in newer buildings outside. Next door is the animal market, featuring goats, sheep, camels, cattle and unfortunate chickens, mostly kept in check by being tied together and lopped upside down. Poor little creatures.

The crafts of Turkmenistan are beautiful--carpets (Bukhara), embroidery, felt rugs, pretty dresses and long pants framed with hand embroidered borders. We wandered through the carpets, hats, dresses and animal shops, as you can see below. As in most of the world, it is not great to be an animal in Turkmenistan.

Since the first president, Niyazov, was focused on personal grandeur and god-status, he built some magnificent mosques and his own mausoleum. This may not have been a good idea since the local lore has it that if you build your tomb, you will soon occupy it. He did only 2 years after it was completed. Joining him in the tomb are his parents and 2 brothers. His mother and brothers were killed in the terrible earthquake of 1948. Niyazov grew up in a Russian orphanage in poverty, but later rose in the ranks of the Communist Party, eventually becoming the Party leader and then, upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, the first president of an independent Turkmenistan. More about him in another blog.

We drove up one of the deep gorges that rise into the mountains to the south of Ashgabat. Just 15 miles to the south, over the mountains, is the border with Iran. We had lunch along a small river, shared with a loudly singing bridal party and an unfortunate bride robed in heavy traditional dress amidst the heavy heat.

Our final visit was to Nisa, a Greek settlement dating from 200 BC. We spent over an hour with one of the archaeologists working the site who told us that, while both Russian and Italian teams have been excavating the site for decades, no one really knows what happened here. There are 43 towers, now in ruins, so perhaps this was a fortress, but no armaments have been found. The walls stood 40 feet high until the 1948 earthquake, when all crumbled within minutes. Greek artifacts, including pieces of Greek statues, have been found here. The National Museum has some beautiful artifacts from Nisa as well.

We ended the day at a local shopping mall, teeming with anything you could want from music to groceries to iPads. But, this is a somewhat hidden commercial enterprise. Among all the marble splendor, there is no real commercial activity that is visible. No signs, no underground economy in evidence (though it has to be there), very few shops along the streets, no vendors on the sidewalks, nothing. There seems to be no heart and soul of Ashgabat in the center of the city. Much more activity at the bazaar, but so far outside the area where people live their lives.